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Exiled Wiganer

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Everything posted by Exiled Wiganer

  1. It will be interesting to see how McIllorum goes tonight, and whether Bailey and co will view him as someone to have a go at. Everything I have seen and heard about him suggests that he is a scarily hard man, in a game of hard men. One thing I am hoping is that Joel has learnt his lessons from recent weeks. His childish petulance costs his team dearly and is giving him a very poor reputation. Having seen him play so well last week, striding through and tackling everything that moves, let's hope so. He seems particularly to get riled after head hunters attack Sam, as is almost certain to happen, so let's hope he can rein himself in (and it would be good if Lockers pulled him aside and calmed him down for once). A couple of slight differences on Wigan's side which could work well - as Deacon looks like he's fit, having him for the full game allows Sam to play 1 and join in when he feels like it, will improve our kicking game and generally bring a steadying influence. If Feca comes in for Tuson then our prop rotation becomes much stronger, and should give us at least parity up front. Leeds of course are missing 2 of their 4 front line props, so are lower in that department. For some reason, we seem more disciplined and effective playing away from home - maybe we simply relish building our victories on defence rather than setting the pace as is expected of the home team. Finally, the best thing for us maybe for Leeds to score first, so we don't get into our sitting on a lead mode, which seems to be something that we can't do well.
  2. I am not sure the conditions will make much difference either way. I don't recall Wigan being hammered in the Cup. One fewer missed tackle and the job was a good un. As these teams put on classics on a regular basis I am hoping both for another beauty and a raprochement - Wigan have had to put up with Bluey, Hetherington and Peacock being very cross about us. Given all they have achieved it would be good to let victory or defeat pass without further digs. Madge is doing well in rising above it. Let's get back to 2 classy clubs playing classy and fair rugby.
  3. This is a fascinating game. Saints are good, but nowhere near as good as they were in their pomp (their 2006 combo would destroy this year's vintage). Like Wigan in the early years of our decline, they have enough to win most games but lack the X factor to cow all comers. Which makes the Giants their worst nightmare. Had they had the courage to pick Wigan they would have been able to trade off emotion and local rivalry, the Giants are a settled team, with a strong sense of collective effort, and some world class talent in Hodgson, Fa'alogo and Brough on his day. Saints will either be relying on the biscuit bones twins or Smith to repeat his tricks without the benefit of surprise. Their pack is like Wire's in that their beef cake is susceptible to quick clever players hitting them up the middle. Saints deserve to be favourites, but I would back the Giants to win this given their settled side, relaxed state of mind and sprinkling of class. 2nd to a brilliant Wigan team and getting to the semis would still be.a great achievement for the Glass Blowers. Well done to them.
  4. I am hoping that this will be another classic. The last game was a beauty. Leeds have so many players who have been there, done that, whereas Wigan can only muster Sam (who never plays badly), an NRL winner, a world cup winner and 3 grand final winners. I can see Wigan winning - they have so many more games than Leeds so far, through being a very efficient scoring machine, we were very good last week and Leeds are missing their 2 best players. Against that, Sinfield is world class and Leeds have talent throughout their 17. Should be in for another treat. Sadly the only certainty, is that win or lose Bluey will be utterly graceless. Wigan seem to bring the worst out of him. Can't wait.
  5. A key question is who is going to come in from the obviously talented juniors? It would only take 2 or 3 to make a breakthrough to supplement an already formidable squad. I wonder about the balance in the pack - I think there are too many identikit big rough lads and not enough ball playing/agility there. Hence when a team gets its nippy steppers among the forwards they are really exposed. Obviously, they are struggling to work out a role for Myler, but to take the obvious Moran analogy further, when he was running off a Jimmy Dymock he was deadly, when he was asked to run the show he was a disaster. It won't happen, but if Wire had Cooke at 13 (and he could be persuaded to play to a plan), with Hodgson at 1 they could be unbeatable next year. How they replace the older core of the team will be an interesting challenge, though Smith must realise Briers and Morley aren't going to be better next year than they were this year. Plenty for Smith to cogitate on over the winter.
  6. I may have missed this, but did McLennon apologise for accusing Wigan players of injuring McGuire (when he was of course injured fouling Carmont)? Did I miss that retraction. Clarke's views may be pie tinted and wrong - though I can see what he means, injuring yourself fouling someone feels different from injuring yourself playing fairly - he is speaking as a pundit. Nobody for a moment associates Schofield's comments with the Leeds club, so why should they Clarke's any more than using Hannibal's views as motivation to up their game against Wigan. Peacock's comments are of a different order - he is his country's most recent captain. Unless Piggy and Leuluai knew that mcGuire was injured, and neither of them is medically qualified, you could understand their reaction and suspicion that McGuire's injury was convenient. Given the previous of the Leeds team in "gamesmanship" and moaning and groaning theirs was not a disproportionate reaction. It is tragic he was injured, for him and his country, but the hysterical and self-righteous response from the Leeds club does them no creit. It is fine for nutters like 3owls to give us his "wisdom", but for McClennan and Peacock to say what they say is petulant and lacks any class. I suspect, like Saints bottling (in the true sense of the term) playing Wigan, fear is the primary factor at play.
  7. I thought you had us down as talentless chokers? Surely you'd be able to rest players and still beat us?
  8. Good point. For some reason Happy has played less international football than his talent merited. I still wouldn't pick Joel though in the centres. Bridge and Gleeson would be ideal (another good performance from Gleeson on Friday), failing that Gleeson and Atkins - Atkins' unpredictability could unsettle the Aussies.
  9. Classy reaction pmj. I think I would echo your views if Wigan lose next week. Wire are getting better year on year, as Saints and Leeds decline each year, and there is no reason to think next year won't be the same. The most interesting phase for me will be when players from the junior teams at WIre, who have done so well this year, step up into the first team. While they had to acquire this initial Cup winning team, they have been sorting out their own development. If they can get the balance right and can bring on a couple of juniors each year then talk of a dynasty may not be far off. It is clearly hard to peak twice so quickly, but the Cup is going nowhere any time soon - and it was won beating a then decent Bulls, and the Giants away before ripping Leeds apart, so it was won the hard way.
  10. Good luck to the Giants next week. They could cause an upset against Saints - after all they have won at Wire and the Piedome recently. One thing among many that really impressed me about them was the way they kept their structure under pressure. Wire were always bound to come back at them but the score only got close because of an outrageous Saints like forward pass and 2 brain explosions from forwards near their own line. They were a class apart. Saints have injuries, Smith is far more likely to be rumbled by the Giants than he was by Wire, and they have nothing to lose. If they keep it close there will come a point at which the pressure to avoid defeat will fall heavily on Saints. Fascinating times ahead.
  11. That went exactly as I expected. Watching Brough lifting Huddersfield tonight made me reflect on what they could have done with Todd Carney last year in their team. Fa'alogo is a wonderful player, David Hodgson is to my mind the biggest loss of all the players Wigan released in the mid noughties, and Brough looked the real deal for once. It shows how difficult it is for a team relying on old players to lift themselves week after week. Interesting imes ahead at the HJ with that team a year older next year. Still, a wonderful season for them. As far as consolations go, an epic win in the CC Final is a pretty good one to sustain them over the winter. It makes Club Call a foregone conclusion, and even though the site may not have as many Treble predictions in the next few weeks, the Saints fans who have miraculously re-discovered the internet in the last few weeks will take up some of the slack.
  12. If there is a score in it, it will be 20 points. Wire have nothing to worry about save for injuries.
  13. I think Wire will put on a good show today in this winning easily, with B Hodgson playing his second game for them after his debut in the Cup, setting up next week for the epic that last week should have been.
  14. Farrell is a very good player. I wasn't aware he was particularly rated by anyone. I have never read anything that suggests he's better than he is. That was a very good performance from us tonight. Not a good night for Wigan haters, which is a shame, not even a bit of Joel petulance to get their teeth into. Do the Wigan haters really watch Sam play only in the hope that he gets hit (they're even trying it from the stands - that must have 3owls)? On the game itself, I think HKR are just a couple of razzle dazzle players away from being an excellent team. Mason seems to me to be more of the same. Wigan's defence looked far better this week, back to normal. I can't see us winning the Grand Final but we'll give a game to whoever beats us.
  15. Offiah was a legend and a privilege to watch. He terrified the Aussies as well. I had forgotten about him. Clearly, Richards is not fit to lace his boots. On Robygate, which is the one time I was v cross, I actually felt that a number of players, including but by no means a certainty, Barrett had far greater claims. It is hard to argue with the claims of any of these, which itself is a testament to how far these Wigan players have come. That in itself reflects well on the club. Morley has been and continues to be a legend, and has done wonderful things for club and country and as an ambassador of our game Down Under when our reputation was rock bottom. It would be churlish to jib should he win.
  16. I think it should stay, but there are lots of ways it could be uesfully tweaked - - greater emphasis on contracts awarded to home grown players; - some marquee player allowance to allow the game to keep its best players from union and the NRL; - I think that the game has lost some of its colour through not attracting big name union players, and would go with Noble's proposal to allow clubs to sign a union player outside of the cap. In a perfect world we would not need it, but the game and the international sides could benefit interms of publicity and performance. This would be particularly helpful for outside backs and developing a Welsh team for the nation to get behind; - there should be a minimum cap, particularly in these days of 3 year franchises; and - it should be net, or at least it should not allow the best tax dodgers to prosper for moral and competition integrity reasons.
  17. That seems something of an over reaction - did you watch Morley's anonymous performance on Friday, after being rested the week before as well (how Steely is that - "take a week off, love"?)? Richards made what could well have been the match winning break, missed one kickable penalty and then kicked one, and one touch line conversion. His last minute penalty was hardly Don Fox territory. Each to his own of course, but I wonder whether you could honestly compare and contrast Morley and Richards' play off contributions and give the award to Morley. Now, if actually you just dislike all things Wigan or think that an outside back cannot win this, then they are perfectly valid reasons not to back Richards.
  18. I think Bridgehas been the best centre I have seen this year. Gleeson has been the second. Shenton strikes me as an ordinary player, but a steady one and deserves to partner Gleeson on the basis of last year's international form - though if even Saint Toppy, who sees any player associated with Saints as a future Hall of Famer, can't get excited about him he must be pretty limited. I get the impression Gleeson is out of favour for non rugby reasons, and so he won't be picked, especially for a tour. I have always thought that there is more than an air of headless chickenness about Atkins, but maybe that off the cuff style would go well alongside steady eddie Shenton...
  19. Tomkins and Richards have already won the Goldthorpe Medal and Richards was the Writers' Player of the Year, so they have both been recognised for their efforts. Either would be worthy winners - indeed, you could make a case for any of the 3 of them. If Richards does not win this, then it is hard to see how a winger could ever win it.
  20. Wigan have won plenty of pressure games this year. We lost in the Cup, but then every team aside from Wire lost in the Cup. We won away at Leeds, Saints, HKR and the Wire, all of which had considerable pressure attached to them. We lost to a brilliant Leeds side twice by the narrowest of margins in the last few minutes, so I don't see any evidence to suggest we can't play very well indeed under pressure. Even if we lose, which I think is unlikely, we have had a brilliant season and have won 1 of the 3 Cups on offer to us (plus the 9s!). It might be the equivalent of football's League Cup, but it is testimony to being the best team home and away over the season and that is a wonderful achievement. Plus we have played with more style and verve than for years.
  21. Given your propensity foir spreading vitriol, I would have thought you'd feel right at home. Wire should win, as they have shown they are streets ahead of the Giants already this year. I think both round 1 losers this year have shown they are robust enough to bounce back from last week's defeats. I wouldn't be surprised to see Brett Hodgson go MIA again - he certainly started his Wire career early in the Cup. Should be easy street for Wire.
  22. Emmitt will be a great signing. Not flashy, but will take it up and knock people over all day. Unless I am missing something he is in Saints' first choice 17 these days - not bad for a 20 year old prop.
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